Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Charity unveils its new facility
A Salsburgh charity is galloping forward and going “from strength to strength” after unveiling a major new facility which will allow additional young people to benefit from its work.
Ponies Help Children celebrated the official opening of its new indoor equine therapeutic centre at its Blairmains Farm base, thanks to a £30,000 donation from rugby charity Wooden Spoon.
It will be used to provide additional sessions in all weathers for young people, who enjoy contact with rescued horses to help learn life skills and build resilience.
The opening ceremony was carried out by former Scotland star Iwan Tukalo, a member of the Grand Slamwinning side of 1990 – and was an especially poignant occasion for the family-run organisation.
Ponies Help Children was founded six years ago by mum and daughter
Moira Ireland and Heather Stephens; and sadly Moira died in November 2019, on the same day that work started on the Salsburgh site to create the new centre.
Heather said: “She never saw her dreams becoming reality, but her legacy lives on in the work that the organisation delivers. We can now go from strength to strength and, most importantly, we can help more young people than ever before.
“There’s no doubt that we wouldn’t have this wonderful facility without the help of Wooden Spoon, and we’re eternally grateful to [its Edinburgh region chair] Charlie Bryden who led us through the funding process and got the project off the ground.”
Unique sessions run by Ponies Help Children provide a “safe haven” which allows youngsters to develop a special bond with the animals through handson close contact.
Youngsters are referred by local autism charities Hope and Reach as well as kinship care organisations; and works with North Lanarkshire Council and a growing range of children’s charities plus disability and mental health organisations.
The horses have been rescued from a life of neglect and abuse and are carefully matched with the children who visit them for the therapeutic sessions – and the new centre will allow the charity to expand and further develop its work.
Cutting the ribbon to open the facility, Iwan Tukalo said: “Heather and her father Eddie have great plans for the future of Ponies Help Children that will carry on Moira’s vision, and I wish them every success – it’s a fantastic charity that deserves lots of support.
“It’s always inspiring to visit the projects that Wooden Spoon helps to fund, and to meet the people who are making such a difference to the lives of others who need a helping hand.”
He added: “I’d also like to thank the rugby fans who dig deep every year to help Wooden Spoon bring projects like this to life; I doubt they know how much their donations mean to the young people we reach.”